Page 18 of The Bride Contract (Princes of Xaavia #1)

18

Chapter 18 - Kiahn

I’ve been pacing in the ship’s writing chambers for what seems like hours on end when the doors whoosh open to reveal Vel.

I stand straight, my hands that had been clasped behind my back fall to my sides.

She doesn’t say anything, though her eyes widen to find me here, before her features morph into a shit-eating smirk.

“Is it done?” I ask, my fingers flexing of their own volition.

Vel walks into the rooms - in all honesty, although not officially stated, these writing chambers could be considered her rooms, since she is the one who uses them most. “I don’t know what you mean,” she quips, tossing her hair and placing her tablet down on one of the nutwood work desks.

I eye the thing.

That tablet contains my contract with Niska.

Vel hasn’t synced her signed copy up with mine yet - I would know if she had, I’ve been checking on my wrist comm every five minutes or so.

“You know what I speak of.” I can feel my jaw clenching, not in the mood to be teased at present.

Vel quirks her head at me and seats herself primly on the desk chair. I swear, it’s like everyone around me knows exactly how to get under my skin.

Including that little human female.

“Well?!”

She reaches for a pitcher of refreshment that I think had been set out for me a few hours ago and had remained untouched. Pouring herself a glass of sweetberry juice, Vel takes a sip before steepling her fingers in front of her. “She signed your contract, Kiahn.”

It’s like something loosens inside me - like a rope that had been pulled taut is suddenly lax. “She did?” I ask, breathing a sigh of relief, and ruffling my hand through my hair. I sit down without looking - miraculously, my ass lands in a chair that I had not checked for. “So we’re really doing this?”

“Congratulations,” Vel grins. “ You have yourself a breeding bride .”

* * *

As much as I would have liked to cast aside my duties, and spend the rest of the day’s travel by Niska’s side, as a Prince returning to my people, I cannot. I already had petitions to read over, agendas to review, and a further, longer list of things to get done provided to me by my dear Aunt Zalora.

I did, however, take a peek at the signed bridal contract once Vel finally synced Niska’s copy up to the system. They had changed the active breeding period - I knew they would. No one signs up for more than six fertility cycles at the most. But it was worth a shot. Everything else was pretty standard from the quick scan I’d taken. I tried not to get too excited at the fact that right at the end of the contract, she’s agreed to give me her full permission.

I eye the door to my onboard simulator in the corner of my room. I have her permission now. I could just-

No . Nope. I won’t.

I’ve used other female’s permissions before, but Niska? After what we’d done last night? How close she allowed us to be while we-

Using her permission in my simulator now would feel… cheap, somehow.

I forced my focus back upon the list of royally sponsored conservation projects where I’m meant to be choosing a handful that my principality will award extra funding for the next quarter.

But the whole reason that it’s standard for breeding brides to grant their permission is so that participating males can use said permission to touch and… do other things with the perfect likeness of their bride. To desensitize them from the act, help them get used to it, and lower the risk of getting overexcited and issuing a bonding bite.

I find myself staring at the door that leads to my simulator in the corner of my room, thinking about how Niska gave me her full permission - full .

She’s basically given her blessing for me to do anything I want to a perfect, holographic replica of her perfect, real body.

My fangs suddenly jut from my gums, making me hiss out a curse and throw my tablet down on my bed.

I’ll look at my princely duties later.

I need a drink.

And to calm the fuck down.

There are three bars on this royal cruiser, plus the ability for me to call staff to wait on me from wherever I am. I could get a drink just sitting right here at my desk. But instead, I decide the walk in pursuit of liquor will suit me well. It’s the same excuse I use to breeze right past the first bar in one of the recreational rooms when I see that there’s no one in it, and then again when a member of staff asks if there’s anything they can do for me.

Instead, I carry on, moving forward until I eventually find myself following the sounds of murmured talking and laughter coming from the lounge area at the front of the ship. It’s the very same room where I’d seen my Niska again when Aunt Zalora had delighted in telling me she’d bought me a ‘gift’ to tempt me into a contract.

And it had worked.

A little too well, if I’m honest.

As the cruiser’s double doors glide back with a whoosh, I find myself holding my breath again just like when she was ‘gifted’ to me, as I lay eyes on the sight before me.

Niska is sitting in the sunken seating area, along with her two friends… and my two brothers.

“ Ah, here he is ,” Zann exclaims, raising a glass to my entry, a rolled, smoking stick of moonweed hanging from the corner of his lips. I straighten my spine and step inside, the doors closing behind me. “We were just telling your bride about the time we three snuck out in disguises to go to a gambling house. Kiahn made us donate our winnings when we bet on that year’s Drak-Ball Season Cup.”

“We had an unfair advantage,” I say, slowly walking into the room with my arms clasped at my back, “since Az was privy to some insider tradings and investments in the sport, and you had dabbled in some black-market intuition venom.”

Zann puts his glass down and takes a drag of his moonweed before gesturing to me with the smoking stick caught between his fingers. “I still maintain that that stuff was not legit.”

“Yeah, if anything, it made you dumber,” Az throws back at him.

Niska’s friend -the youngest one, with the darkest human skin-tone- Jaya, snorts into her drink, but hides the noise with a cough.

Zann doesn’t seem phased at all and blows his moonweed toward Az, the puff of pink cloud shaped like a hand performing an obscene gesture.

“The point was that we are already privileged, and do not need winnings ,” I remind them, stepping down into the sunken area and seating myself beside Niska. I sit back, my arm spread along the seat behind her, careful to try and read her body language to make sure I am not overstepping. We are quite close, if the ship were to lunge even the slightest, I could be forgiven for knocking my thigh against hers.

Which is a fucking ludicrous thing to be fantasizing over - considering everything.

For no apparent reason, I find myself clearing my throat and shifting in my seat.

“No, dear brother,” Zann says, not done with whatever topic he’s fixated on at present. “ The point is that you have a giant stick up your ass, and can never let yourself enjoy anything.”

The bastard lifts his glass like he’s making a toast to the very stick he describes.

“ Oh, I don’t know about that ,” someone says, and it’s not until I notice my Niska slap her hand over her mouth that I realize the words had come from her. I stare at the back of her head, her shoulders now scrunched up but… bouncing a little, like she’s trying to hold in her laughter.

“Wait, what?” Az asks, his glass paused midway to his mouth.

His female - well, the one he would like to be able to call his, anyway - Lois, playfully slaps his stomach. “They fooled around last night and he enjoyed that plenty - keep up .”

Zann says something about being happy to stand corrected, but I don’t hear him. Niska has turned in her seat to face me, her hands on her pretty, round cheeks and her bottom lip caught with her teeth. “Sorry,” she mouths, like she has anything to apologize for. I shake my head. There’s mischief in her eyes that stirs a disrespectful amount of interest in me. I shift in my seat again, moving into her space a little more, and I don’t know why, but the way she tracks my movements - her gaze drifting down my body, noting how I’m half splayed over her side of the backrest now - well, let’s just say, I like that tiny little smile she gifts me afterward. No matter how small it is.

Niska leans forward and picks up her drink, and I note that the liquid starts as an aqua-blue tone before transitioning up to a pinkish hue at the top of her glass. Zann has been mixing exotic liquors together again, and no doubt these drinks are strong enough to knock out a drak. And, he’s handing them out to the humans like it’s nothing more than sweetberry juice.

I swipe the glass from Niska before she gets a sip, and dip my nose into the rim of the glass. And, yep - this stuff smells strong as fuck.

“Hey!” Niska protests.

I glare at Zann. “Did you gelikliks even check to make sure these are safe for human consumption?”

From the corner of my eye, I note that my question has prompted Az to swipe Lois’ drink from her hands while she’s too distracted by asking what ‘geliklik’ means.

Zann scoffs and takes another drag of his moonweed. “It’s an insult,” he clarifies. “And the humans will be fine.” Lois grabs her drink back from Az, giving him an accusatory glare before taking a big sip. “I drank this very drink with lots of different species,” Zann adds, “and only one of them burst into flames.”

Lois sprays her mouthful of alcohol all over Az, some of it apparently getting Zann and his exclusive Dalwaashi silk shirt. “ What ?!” she splutters.

Zann curses and jumps up, flicking the excess alcohol off his hand, his rings flashing with the movement. He looks to me, an expression of disgust at the turn of events, but I find that I’m the one grinning back at him this time. He’ll get no sympathy from me.

“Oh, sorry,” Lois flusters as she looks at how soaked Az is. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t apologize to him,” Zann complains, “he spends more credits getting his drak’s shit analyzed than he does on clothing-”

“I need to make sure she’s healthy,” Az protests, pulling his wet shirt up over his head and horns. Zann’s right, though. Az practically lives in the athletic gear that his team’s sponsors give him. No doubt he doesn’t give a shit about that little human ruining his clothing. Anyway, he’s probably thanking the Goddesses for the opportunity to sit here in his most comfortable form - shirtless.

While all three females seem to be staring at him.

Damn. Do I need to start taking my clothes off to retain Niska’s attention? My body is not as lean and toned as my professional athlete brother’s, but I keep myself well. I think she liked it last night at least.

Suddenly, I am overrun with the need to find out exactly what Niska thought of my body. Did it please her? What exactly do human females look for in their mates? It used to be that Xaviann females would choose the male with the most impressive horns, but humans have no horns. Even so, for the first time in my life, I find myself comparing mine to both my brother’s. Does Niska prefer my backward-sweeping horns to theirs - Zann with his that are more upright, and Az with his double horns he inherited from our mother?

It’s a stupid question to ask - she’s my contract bride after all, so it shouldn’t matter. I need to remind myself of that. I shake off the odd thoughts and lean into her, murmuring low in her ear, “ you signed our contract. ” That very fact has been buzzing in my mind incessantly.

She shifts her position in her seat so that she’s now fully facing me, and I can’t help but get caught up in those deep brown eyes and her alluring scent. “I did,” she says, “I guess that means I’m yours now.”

Goddess! I want to grab this woman and seat her in my lap again - just like with our first meeting.

I can tell the moment her mind catches up with her words because she bites down on that luscious bottom lip as if to stop anything further escaping her pretty little mouth.

I raise my brows at her. “How much drink has my brother been plying you with?” There’s something about the look in her eyes that tells me she’s more lost in the moment than she had been this morning. It’s a similar look to how she had seemed last night, but the type of intoxication is a little different.

“Just a couple,” she says, her eyes landing on my mouth. “ Is that bad ?”

Is that bad? Those words echo in my mind as my eyes stay fixed on her mouth. I suddenly forget about the ‘type of intoxication’ she might be under, and lean even closer. But, more importantly, Niska mirrors the position, not giving me any signal that my nearness is unwelcome. “Are you… celebrating something ?” I ask, my mouth watering at the thought that she might be excited for the breeding bench - anticipating pleasure in it, even. Visions of how she’d writhed in my lap as she touched herself last night flood my mind - how she’s cried out as she reached her climax. I will learn everything there is to know about human female pleasure in the hope that she will make such noises for me again.

“Oh, you know,” she says, smiling as her gaze drops to my mouth now. “Just the fact that we’re going to be safe now.”

I-

I feel like I’ve just been doused with a bucket of ice waters.

Here she is celebrating that she and her friends are no longer in danger of being sold for Goddesses-know-what, and all I’m consumed with is how much I want to fuck her.

I pull away, sucking in lungful of air.

“ Zann ,” I bark, getting my brother’s attention away from his ruined shirt as I raise an empty glass. “Make me one of those drinks.”

Perhaps I’ll burst into flames and Niska will be safe from my licentious thoughts.

Get it to-fucking-gether, Kiahn. This is nothing to her except a deal so that she can be as safe as a human possibly can be in this corner of the galaxy.

Maybe I shouldn’t do this. Maybe we can just tell my meddling, slave-purchasing aunt that we completed the act, when in fact, we just sat around and talked about… whatever it is humans normally talk about.

Irritated, I swipe the mixed drink from my brother’s hand as soon as he offers it. I just know, he’s got some kind of clever comment all ready and loaded in that idiotic mouth of his, but I point a look at him over the brim of the crystal tumbler as I take a sip, and give the slightest shake of my head.

Thankfully, Zann raises both hands and leaves me be. He eyes Az, sat there, flexing his muscles, trying to impress Lois before his gaze lands on the youngest of the females, Jaya. I watch her, too. The way she sits so close to Lois and holds herself straight-backed, her arms crossed in her lap, not quite looking at ease even though she giggles when Lois teases my idiot middle brother by flicking his bare abs. Zann’s eyes meet mine, and I think he sees it, too - Jaya is not completely comfortable here, around us. It’s understandable, considering.

“I’m gonna go find someone to help me get this clean,” he says, walking backward before turning, unbuttoning his shirt as he goes. I sigh to myself. Zann has always been shy of things that are more difficult - more work. He may not want to enter a breeding contract with Jaya - and she is not required to accept him - but if I know my aunt, and my contract with Niska goes well, she will find new ways to push him into it.

Doubly so if I manage to sire an offspring with strong Bloodline Venom on my Niska.

Triple, if said offspring is a daughter.

Part of me thinks I should probably leave with Zann. I should probably drag Az away from the women, too. We should probably leave them all alone.

I don’t do that though, because apparently, I’m more selfish than I’d realized, and right now, I really want to stay wherever Niska is. I mentally curse myself and down my drink in one, the alcohol at the bottom half of the glass chasing a pleasant burn down my throat and into my belly. Without hesitation, I reach over the table for the decanters filled with a myriad of different colors, ready to attempt to mix myself some more.

I’d just pulled the stopper from a corked bottle with my teeth when an empty glass appears in front of me. “Top me up?”

I pause, eyeing the glass, and then Niska’s smiling face. I do not know at what kind of rate humans become intoxicated, but she looks like she’s on her way.

“Unless you’re scared I’m going to burst into flames?” she grins, nudging me with her shoulder.

She is so adorable it hurts. And she’s so beautiful, it is kind of hard to look at directly. This close up, she’s like a supernova or something. She’ll ruin my sight for anything else.

I clear my throat and decide to focus on filling our glasses. “Zann was probably talking about a Zaruheez. They are a very physically intolerant people who spend most of their time living in green mud on their planet.” Once I finish mixing our drinks, I hand one to Niska. “I once witnessed one explode because someone touched him with a texture his gelatinous skin wasn’t used to.”

She blinks at me.

Because I’m babbling like an idiot about exploding gelatinous mud-people, obviously.

But then, Niska’s mouth pulls up on one side as she clinks the side of her glass against mine, and says, “ here’s to making each other explode, Prince Kiahn. ”

And I-

Fuck , my fangs ache.

I down my drink quickly, and pour myself another.

This contract - no, this female - is going to be the death of me.

* * *

It is two hours, and far too many drinks later that I walk the females back to their room. There is no formal meal tonight - thank the Goddesses. Vel had found us all in our intoxicated states and sent for various snacks to help soak up the liquor. I tried a replicated human delicacy called ‘chips and dip’ and promptly filled my belly.

The evening needed to be wound up once Lois started trying to teach Az some kind of human mating dance called the why-emcee-ay. When she stood up on that table and manually rearranged his arms into different ridiculous poses, she accidentally touched his horns and then proceeded to tease him for getting what she called ‘ a fang boner ’.

I knew I had to shut everything down when Az - without a shred of embarrassment - just grinned at her and asked if she wanted to touch them.

And Lois was just about intoxicated enough to do it, too.

I’d sent Az off to go sleep it all off in his temporary chambers, and then lingered for far too long outside his old rooms, where my Niska is now inside. I do not know why. We had talked and talked while drinking. She had told me all manner of things about her home planet and the people and places there. It was all fascinating, and suddenly I can see why Vel is such a fan of the species.

Or, perhaps, that is just the effect Niska has on me.

I think she could regale me on just about any subject and I would be enamored by her.

I can hear the human girls erupt into a fit of laughter from behind the closed door to their rooms. My feet move closer and I raise a fist as if to knock on the door but pause. What am I doing? Sighing, I shake my head and make my way back to my own chambers. I’ve taken up enough of Niska’s time today. Besides, soon, I will have her in ways that make me want to fist my cock at the mere thought of.

Or…

Later - when I’m sober - I will probably blame my decision to go straight to my simulator on the amount of drink I have consumed. But for now, once I’ve attached the neuro-patches to my temples, and I’m standing here in the stark-white room with a perfect replica of my sweet, tempting Niska in front of me, I don’t care about any of that. All I care about is using her permission to get a taste of what I’ve longed for since first setting eyes on that curvy little human.